Volkswagen promises a 94 mpg diesel vehicle

[DeliveryValve]

From the DailyTech
April 17, 2008

VW gets back to its roots with the Up!

Back in October 2007, DailyTech brought you news concerning Volkswagen's Up! concept car. The tiny Up! measures just 135.8" in length and only 64.2" in width. VW's hope with the Up! is to spark a revolution in economical vehicles like the original Beetle.

According to Auto Express, work on the production version of the Up! is coming along nicely and more details of the tiny runabout are starting to leak out of VW headquarters. Like the original Beetle, the Up! is a rear-engine, rear wheel drive vehicle.

Despite the tiny dimensions, the Up! will be able to seat four people within its cabin. Adding to its versatility, the three passenger seats of the Up! can be folded to accept large/bulky cargo or removed completely for even more storage space.

Power for the Up! will come from a choice of gasoline or diesel two-cylinder engines. Both engines will be around 600c in capacity and will be turbocharged. VW is projecting that the turbocharged diesel motor will be good for 94 MPG combined on the European cycle.

Pricing for the Up! is expected to start at around £4,000 ($7,900 USD) in emerging markets for completely stripped models. Better-equipped models destined for the European market are expected to start at £7,500 ($14,800 USD).

With tiny vehicles like the Smart Fourtwo seeing huge demand in the United States, it may only be a matter of time before VW sends the Up! to our shores. Compared to the Smart Fourtwo, the Up! features room for two additional passengers and vastly superior fuel economy.

[DeliveryValve]

Maybe 1000 X better then the Smart Car?

[lietuviai]

At least it looks like a car.

[bgkast]

At least it seats more than 2 people

[lietuviai]

Will it be as safe as the Smart car?

Originally Posted by lietuviai

Will it be as unsafe as the Smart car?

I corrected it for you.

Hopefully they learn from Smart and don't cripple it with a horrible manumatic transmission.

[Alberta Luthier]

I think Smart cars are very cool... if you happen to live in some smallish place where you might be safe enough to use it... I don't actually know of such a place,,,,
And if I did get one I'd want a Smart-for-four and in Canada we only have the Smart-for-two
I really like them, but not enough to be in an accident in one.
Mercedes S-Class vs. Smart
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02eghIfyHP0

[t walgamuth]

Its the way of the future, folks!

As the prices of fuel keep rising we will all be downsizing. Little cars will gradually proliferate and these will be the rule not the exception.

There will be little cars with exceptional mileage and they will ride like an s class and handle like a 16 valve 190.

And a Lincoln (if Ford survives) will be the size of a current vw jetta.

Tom W

[vstech]

I just saw a commercial on tv with an old vw beetle interviewing an astronaut and they talked about the mileage and navigating the globe, something about a world record, the gist of the commercial was that VW has more engineers than NASA... kinda funny. me thinks they is starting a mileage awareness trend toward VW... no car was advertised in the commercial, just it's world record of gas mileage.

[cscmc1]

I'd definitely consider one: seats 4, available diesel!?!? Smart could take a hint from VW on this one, it seems.

[cscmc1]

Off topic, but -- Heh... check out this Smart vs. Ferrari video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5S1NAMnYKM&feature=related

[F18]

Funny......the dimensions are not that far off from the vintage Austin Mini I have which seats four. That is 120" x 55.5". The engine is 848cc and front wheel drive. Puts out only 34hp at the fly wheel.....but it screams!!

Had a 65 VW bug (6volt system) back in college. Tuned up it would get 38mpg on the highway. For me at the time it was a great vehicle....got me through the early 70's Oil Embargo cheap.............

[barry123400]

I thought volkswagon already had a fairly high miles per gallon diesel vehicle in production? Only sold in the european market for a few years or more now. Incorporates a three cylinder diesel and six speed transmission.
The european pollution standards are quite high so I wondered why not bring it here? It is already developed and selling . I think they call it the polo. Eighty five plus mpg and around 75 horsepower rated with a decent size. That means general performance should be simular to the mid eighties to mid nineties old diesel turbo jettas. You can learn to live with that power level. Smaller than that is not especially good..
Sounds better to me than a weak toy type two cylinder car giving 95 mpg if you get it. We tend to drive much longer distances between destinations in north america.
The exception might be if they are marketing basically a town car so you will also need a highway car if you travel quite a lot as well. This is where the electric car market is going to find a home eventually in my opinion.
For whatever reason volkswagon seems to be continuiously not reading the future market correctly. Or too late. This year we get the new jetta diesel. A lot more power and slightly less milage. The power level especially since 1993 has been good in my opinion. So why did they not use the refinements in diesel technology to up the milage instead? I never heard one complaint of the later tdi's being underpowered. Almost a case of the company being run by non car types for quite a few years now. The original beetle was an earth shaking concept. A company that could once do that should be able to produce a simular magnitude of vehicle for today. This two cylinder rear drive lightweight vehicle with only two doors does not strike me as being it. Now the same size jetta car as today giving 70 plus per gallon might be it.

[rs899]

For whatever reason volkswagon seems to be continuiously not reading the future market correctly. Or too late. This year we get the new jetta diesel. A lot more power and slightly less milage. The power level especially since 1993 has been good in my opinion. So why did they not use the refinements in diesel technology to up the milage instead? I never heard one complaint of the later tdi's being underpowered.

Up until very recently, nobody on this side of the pond seems to be at all concerned with fuel economy. In all of the forums I read, nary a mention of fuel economy. Sure, plenty of moaning about fuel prices, but very little practical concern. I still get rammed off the road in my VW Rabbit by SUVs trying to get to the next stoplight (as if that matters). We need to start thinking of fuel economy as being an aspect of PERFORMANCE before we get any attention here from carmakers who could help us.

Rick

[cscmc1]

Originally Posted by rs899

We need to start thinking of fuel economy as being an aspect of PERFORMANCE before we get any attention here from carmakers who could help us.

Rick

What gets me is performance and good mileage are not mutually exclusive. I am VERY happy with the performance of my 98 TDI (it's chipped, so I'm at the Euro power levels and the intake is clean as a whistle). If I were so inclined, new nozzles would really get her moving. There are guys out there that have TDIs that will beat up on tuned VR6's. The power that can be made with the TDI engines is VERY impressive!

We are shopping for a car to replace my wife's Saab. It's so depressing to find that so few cars will do more than 30mpg on the highway.